| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Larry Weil (1951-06-26)June 26, 1951 Tralee, Ireland |
| Died | April 10, 2017(2017-04-10) (aged 65)[2] Woodbury, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Liver disease |
| Website | http://www.monsterfactory.org |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Larry Sharpe Larry Weil |
| Billed height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)[1] |
| Billed weight | 264 lb (120 kg)[1] |
| Billed from | Castleisland, Ireland |
| Trained by | Mr. Fuji Gorilla Monsoon Nikolai Volkoff |
| Debut | 1974 |
| Retired | 2004 |
Larry Weil (June 26, 1951 – April 10, 2017) was an Irish-Americanprofessional wrestler, manager and trainer better known under his ring name,"Pretty Boy"Larry Sharpe. Sharpe is perhaps most well known for creating theMonster Factoryprofessional wrestling school. He grew up inCastleisland,Ireland and was the original trainer ofKevin Von Erich, and many other well-known wrestlers.[3]
Larry Sharpe was a successful wrestler atPaulsboro High School in New Jersey.[4] He had a record 13–1–1 and was ranked fourth in the NCAA national rankings. In 1974, he was scouted by Red Berry andGorilla Monsoon who trained him for a life in professional wrestling and later that year Larry made his pro wrestling debut in the WWF. Larry then toured Japan and various territories including Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, and the Mid Atlantic.
Sharpe then headed to Canada, where he won his first championship while working forStampede Wrestling inCalgary,Alberta. Forming atag team with Ripper Collins, he won theStampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship on September 24, 1976. The team held the title for less than one month,dropping it to Ed and Jerry Morrow on October 15.[5] In June 1977, Sharpe returned to the WWWF where he formed a tag team with Dynamite Jack Evans (who was working in the WWWF in preliminary and mid-card matches). The Hollywood Blondes (as they were known) had a successful run winning matches on television and at live events. They impressed Gorilla Monsoon (who owned part of theWorld Wrestling Council) who sent them down to Puerto Rico for their most successful run.
On December 17, 1977, they defeatedCarlos Colón andVictor Jovica to win theWWC North American Tag Team Championship. The title was declared vacant on April 22 the following year because of a controversial match against Jovica and Chief Thunder Cloud. The teams met for a rematch on May 6, and the Hollywood Blondes regained the championship. Three weeks later, however, they lost the title to Colón and Thunder Cloud.[6] Sharpe's next stop was Hawaii where he quickly became the top contender for theNWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship. In November 1978 when the previous champion,Don Muraco, won theNWA Pacific International Heavyweight Championship, was forced to vacate the Hawaiian championship, Sharpe was awarded the title, later losing it toMando Guerrero on November 22.[7] After a brief stint in the Mid Atlantic, he returned to the WWF in 1979. He was given a small push by Vince McMahon Sr, but ended up leaving to wrestle independently and open his training school.
The World Famous Monster Factory is aprofessional wrestling school inPaulsboro, New Jersey, currently run by Danny Cage. It is considered to be the first publicly available professional wrestling school. Sharpe opened the wrestling school with"Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers in 1983 and wrestled part-time until retiring in August 1991. Though Sharpe had trained wrestlers prior to officially opening the school that had significant renown,[8] the school's first famous pupil wasScott "Bam Bam" Bigelow, whose success brought a lot of attention to the school.[9]
In February 2008, the school was threatened by a fire that had started at the building adjacent to the school, ANA Laboratories, and the building was evacuated by the school trainers. The fire was confined to the laboratory until its roof collapsed however, according toCamden CountyChief Fire Marshal Paul Hartstein, only afirewall prevented the fire from reaching the school. The school had been in the middle of drills when the fire broke out although all the students were safely evacuated to the outside parking lot.[10] He died of liver disease in New Jersey at age 65 on April 10 2017.
Sharpe's wrestling students have included: